JerrySharrett
Senile Member
DISCLAIMER; I DID NOT WRITE THIS?? I FOUND IT ON A MEMORY STICK I HAVE. DID I WRITE IT?? NOT THAT I REMEMBER...APOLIGIES TO WHO DID. I POST IT HERE BECAUSE THERE IS SOME GOOD ADVISE TO NEW SHOOTERS.
THE FILE IS DATED January 2012
BARREL TUNING
First, I have not won a National Championship or set any records. I have been close but….. I have had some moderate successes in tuning and view myself as one of the middle-of-the-pack guys who occasionally has run with the Big Dogs. I shoot a 6PPC in 'short range' benchrest.
Secondly, using a regimented procedure to determine the tune of a certain barrel (such as the Vaughn frequency method that has been described here) is a good thing. In fact, without such a regimented system you would be constantly guessing where to start in this process. The tune you determine under your system will only hold for the specific temperature/humidity and range condition in which that regimen is used to tune the gun. Once a variable has changed the gun will not be in the same tune. It may be a little off or it may be off by a mile depending on how close you are to the end of a specific tuning node. Herein lies the myth that preloading works. I shot most of the entire 2002 Eastern Region season preloaded. I had success at the Regional level but got my behind kicked at the National level. Mostly because I didn't change what I needed to change when the tune went away. In 2003 I learned a lot more about the tuning process and my equipment and I had a better year at the National level. I attribute this solely to learning how to tune a gun and when to change something when it was needed.
I use the method Bart described for seating depth and try 54, 55 and 56 clicks of 2001 N133 out of my Harrel measure. I can go that hot because my action and bullet/reamer combination is such that I don't get pressure signs up there around 30 grains. With IMR 8208 ("T") I can only go to 54 clicks and with the mid-range 8208 this combination can go to 55.5 without pressure signs. Other gun/reamer combinations may not allow you to do this but the point is that you need to find out what your system will allow as you reach the upper end.
In tuning I don't use the Vaughn method because it changes when some ranges or weather variable changes. Rather, I look for what the groups (and I use 4 shot groups at 200 yards) do with changes in the conditions. When a tune changes very little on the target then you may have stumbled onto something. When it changes a lot you need to at least note that the blow up doesn't occur in a match. I haven't yet been able to predict exactly what changes I need to make with a variable change but I'm getting close. That is the constant journey that all benchrest shooters travel in trying to become and stay competitive. Instead, I have a set of starting points that I use with each barrel and I work off that base line.
Thirdly, it may not be readily available but I have experienced this and it has been verified by the best gun tuner to ever have lived, Tony Boyer. A gun can be in tune in a predominately left-to-right condition and be completely off in a right-to-left condition and vice versa. The same applies for head and tail winds. The point being that you can have a gun be working great in one condition and then it looks like to gun has broken when it was the condition that changed. You may not believe this but I have experienced it many times. The best example that I have experienced is when my gun came into tune at Phoenix during the HV100 match in the rain. I shot a .1572 agg in a 3 o'clock condition. I usually avoid crosswinds like the plague but it was all that was available at the time. I kept expecting my next shot to plant .4xx inch to the left every time I pulled the trigger but they kept going into the same hole. Those five groups changed my entire way of looking at tuning and benchrest. The next day when it was hot and dry the predominant condition was left-to-right with some tailwind angles. The gun was not close to being in the same tune as the day before. The unfortunate thing was that I wasn't familiar enough with tuning in the desert to make the needed changes. That needs to be fixed in my system. (Comment by MSC: I think the more accurate way to express this would be to say that Joe has not learned this procedure rather than saying his system doesn't work here.)
Fourthly, some barrels have a wider tuning range than others. There are several variables that affect that 'band width'. The most important thing is to know whether you are in the middle of the range or at the low/high end. The best way to check this is to shoot a couple of groups 1/2 number below and above the load you think is the best. If the tune 'goes away' with the higher load but not with the lower load then you are at the upper side of the tune. If it 'goes away' with the lower load then you are on the lower side of the tune. If both go away then you can assume your barrel has a narrow tuning range and you need to carefully monitor what is going on with that tune as the range conditions change during the match.
Fifthly, it is a myth that you want to choose the calmest condition in which to tune your gun. It is general knowledge that often a gun that will shoot zero after zero in dead calm will often not shoot smaller that a three in condition. Unless your match conditions show that same dead calm there is a likelihood that a big surprise is waiting with the next gust of wind. What a competitive shooter wants is a gun that will buck condition; preferable the predominant condition that is at the range on match day. A good honest barrel and tune may never give you a low one in the dead calm but will likely not shoot anything over a mid-two in condition if you are watching the flags. I'd rather have a barrel that does this than one that teases you into thinking that you are going to shoot a world record with it because you tuned it in a calm.
Sixthly, when you tune a barrel often you will find several nodes where the gun will shoot. Bart talked about setting the seating depth so that it is out as far as the lands will allow you to set the depth and then move back into the case from there. The same can be said for choosing the highest powder load that the gun will allow as your starting point. That way you only have one direction to go with both the load and the seating depth (i.e., down in powder or into the case with the bullet) when a change is warranted. The tuning variables get cut in half.
Seventh: What most competitive shooters look for is a tune that will give you the least variation in a condition change. A barrel and tune that will go in the same hole with a "one hour" change in the flags (a 7 to 8 o'clock change in angle) is an honest barrel. A tune that will go in the same hole with a "two hour" change is an outstanding barrel (probably the mythical 'hummer). A barrel that prints the same on the target with 53 clicks as it does with 54 or 55 is a once-in-a-lifetime barrel. To have one such barrel and use it up in local score matches is almost a shame; you should take that barrel and win some Hall of Fame points.
Eighth: Guns go into and out of tune during the course of a match day and throughout the weekend (or week in the case of the Nationals). Looking at your targets that you just shot and understanding this happens and preparing for it is what separates the merely 'good' shooter from the Big Guys. Right after you just shot your smallest group of the day is when you need to look at which way the temperature and humidity is heading. If your gun is on the edge of the node and the temperature is going up you need to know whether you have to change either the seating depth or the load. How many times have you followed up a screamer with a monster on the next group? Knowing where you are with a tune and how much and which direction to change is only learned by working within your tuning system. Most top-notch shooters minimize the amount of variables (different chamberings, different types of barrels, multiple types of bullets, multiple powders, etc.) and work the variable sin their tuning system to beat the range conditions.
Point being that the most important thing you can do is get a regimented tuning process for your guns and work it. Then have your system calibrated so that you can change what needs to be changed when necessary. To me it is more important to know how to tune a gun and when to change something than to continually change barrel makers, gunsmiths, bullets, types of powders, etc. The best example that I can think of is how you hear a lot of shooters say that one bullet is better than another or one lot or type of powder is better than another. (And, of course, if you or I had these mythical components we would be winning all the matches). But you often see that the same shooters end up at the top over and over again. This is because these guys know how to tune a gun with the components they have and know when to change and how much change is needed.
TUNING METHOD
(For illustration I will refer to the 6PPC and N133 powder)
IMPORTANT: NEVER MAKE MORE THAN ONE CHANGE AT A TIME!!!!
Start by prepping your cases (of course) and then loading them in groups of three. Have a couple of extra rounds loaded for fouling shots.
Take a sized, unprimed case and seat a bullet just into the case. Insert it into the chamber and close the bolt on it forcing the lands to push the bullet into the case. Measure the ogive to case head, subtract .003 and consider this the 'jam' setting. The reason for subtracting the .003 is to keep from getting a bullet stuck in the barrel and dumping powder in your action during a match. Adjust your seating die to this measurement.
Group your cases in sets of three. Load the first three with a low powered load for the cartridge being loaded. For instance, in the 6PPC, using N133 powder, 51 clicks on the Harrell powder measure is considered a light load.
Load the next three using 52 clicks of N133, three at 53 clicks, three at 54 clicks. Go to the bench and, using wind flags shoot the first three trying to pick the best condition available. Then shoot the remaining 'sets' of three cartridges.
After doing this you should be able to pick one or, maybe, two loads that are markedly better than the others. You may have to repeat this procedure but a 'best' load should be apparent. Then load 5 rounds of the two best loads and fire them for group.
After you determine which load is best so far you can begin to adjust for seating depth. The first adjustment should be .003. Repeat the five shot drill a couple of groups to see if there is any improvement. If there is, seat the bullet .002 deeper and try again. If there was no improvement stay with the 'jam' length.
By this time you should be able to pick a decent load. From this point on it will be a matter of trying different neck tensions/seating depths for optimum accuracy.
ONE OF THE TOUGHEST LESSONS TO LEARN AND ACCEPT IS THAT A NEW BARREL MAY NOT BE CAPABLE OF WINNING ACCURACY. IT IS FALSE ECONOMY TO THINK YOU CAN MAKE A MEDIOCRE BARREL INTO A WINNER. IT CANNOT BE DONE AND IT IS ONLY A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH A BARREL THAT WON'T SHOOT.
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL WITHIN 100 SHOTS IF A BARREL WILL SHOOT. IF IT WON'T YOU'RE AHEAD OF THE GAME TO TAKE IT OFF AND TRY ANOTHER.
I know this is a tough pill to swallow but it is part of the cost of winning. It will cost you X amount of dollars to participate in benchrest competition but it will cost you 5X to compete. Only you can decide how far you want to go.
You should keep in mind just what you're trying to achieve. It is not realistic to expect a .270 to shoot like a 6PPC. The tuning method will work to show you the capabilities of any caliber but always remember capabilities vary. That's why I'm not an Olympic runner. That and about 80 extra pounds and 40 years.
THE FILE IS DATED January 2012
BARREL TUNING
First, I have not won a National Championship or set any records. I have been close but….. I have had some moderate successes in tuning and view myself as one of the middle-of-the-pack guys who occasionally has run with the Big Dogs. I shoot a 6PPC in 'short range' benchrest.
Secondly, using a regimented procedure to determine the tune of a certain barrel (such as the Vaughn frequency method that has been described here) is a good thing. In fact, without such a regimented system you would be constantly guessing where to start in this process. The tune you determine under your system will only hold for the specific temperature/humidity and range condition in which that regimen is used to tune the gun. Once a variable has changed the gun will not be in the same tune. It may be a little off or it may be off by a mile depending on how close you are to the end of a specific tuning node. Herein lies the myth that preloading works. I shot most of the entire 2002 Eastern Region season preloaded. I had success at the Regional level but got my behind kicked at the National level. Mostly because I didn't change what I needed to change when the tune went away. In 2003 I learned a lot more about the tuning process and my equipment and I had a better year at the National level. I attribute this solely to learning how to tune a gun and when to change something when it was needed.
I use the method Bart described for seating depth and try 54, 55 and 56 clicks of 2001 N133 out of my Harrel measure. I can go that hot because my action and bullet/reamer combination is such that I don't get pressure signs up there around 30 grains. With IMR 8208 ("T") I can only go to 54 clicks and with the mid-range 8208 this combination can go to 55.5 without pressure signs. Other gun/reamer combinations may not allow you to do this but the point is that you need to find out what your system will allow as you reach the upper end.
In tuning I don't use the Vaughn method because it changes when some ranges or weather variable changes. Rather, I look for what the groups (and I use 4 shot groups at 200 yards) do with changes in the conditions. When a tune changes very little on the target then you may have stumbled onto something. When it changes a lot you need to at least note that the blow up doesn't occur in a match. I haven't yet been able to predict exactly what changes I need to make with a variable change but I'm getting close. That is the constant journey that all benchrest shooters travel in trying to become and stay competitive. Instead, I have a set of starting points that I use with each barrel and I work off that base line.
Thirdly, it may not be readily available but I have experienced this and it has been verified by the best gun tuner to ever have lived, Tony Boyer. A gun can be in tune in a predominately left-to-right condition and be completely off in a right-to-left condition and vice versa. The same applies for head and tail winds. The point being that you can have a gun be working great in one condition and then it looks like to gun has broken when it was the condition that changed. You may not believe this but I have experienced it many times. The best example that I have experienced is when my gun came into tune at Phoenix during the HV100 match in the rain. I shot a .1572 agg in a 3 o'clock condition. I usually avoid crosswinds like the plague but it was all that was available at the time. I kept expecting my next shot to plant .4xx inch to the left every time I pulled the trigger but they kept going into the same hole. Those five groups changed my entire way of looking at tuning and benchrest. The next day when it was hot and dry the predominant condition was left-to-right with some tailwind angles. The gun was not close to being in the same tune as the day before. The unfortunate thing was that I wasn't familiar enough with tuning in the desert to make the needed changes. That needs to be fixed in my system. (Comment by MSC: I think the more accurate way to express this would be to say that Joe has not learned this procedure rather than saying his system doesn't work here.)
Fourthly, some barrels have a wider tuning range than others. There are several variables that affect that 'band width'. The most important thing is to know whether you are in the middle of the range or at the low/high end. The best way to check this is to shoot a couple of groups 1/2 number below and above the load you think is the best. If the tune 'goes away' with the higher load but not with the lower load then you are at the upper side of the tune. If it 'goes away' with the lower load then you are on the lower side of the tune. If both go away then you can assume your barrel has a narrow tuning range and you need to carefully monitor what is going on with that tune as the range conditions change during the match.
Fifthly, it is a myth that you want to choose the calmest condition in which to tune your gun. It is general knowledge that often a gun that will shoot zero after zero in dead calm will often not shoot smaller that a three in condition. Unless your match conditions show that same dead calm there is a likelihood that a big surprise is waiting with the next gust of wind. What a competitive shooter wants is a gun that will buck condition; preferable the predominant condition that is at the range on match day. A good honest barrel and tune may never give you a low one in the dead calm but will likely not shoot anything over a mid-two in condition if you are watching the flags. I'd rather have a barrel that does this than one that teases you into thinking that you are going to shoot a world record with it because you tuned it in a calm.
Sixthly, when you tune a barrel often you will find several nodes where the gun will shoot. Bart talked about setting the seating depth so that it is out as far as the lands will allow you to set the depth and then move back into the case from there. The same can be said for choosing the highest powder load that the gun will allow as your starting point. That way you only have one direction to go with both the load and the seating depth (i.e., down in powder or into the case with the bullet) when a change is warranted. The tuning variables get cut in half.
Seventh: What most competitive shooters look for is a tune that will give you the least variation in a condition change. A barrel and tune that will go in the same hole with a "one hour" change in the flags (a 7 to 8 o'clock change in angle) is an honest barrel. A tune that will go in the same hole with a "two hour" change is an outstanding barrel (probably the mythical 'hummer). A barrel that prints the same on the target with 53 clicks as it does with 54 or 55 is a once-in-a-lifetime barrel. To have one such barrel and use it up in local score matches is almost a shame; you should take that barrel and win some Hall of Fame points.
Eighth: Guns go into and out of tune during the course of a match day and throughout the weekend (or week in the case of the Nationals). Looking at your targets that you just shot and understanding this happens and preparing for it is what separates the merely 'good' shooter from the Big Guys. Right after you just shot your smallest group of the day is when you need to look at which way the temperature and humidity is heading. If your gun is on the edge of the node and the temperature is going up you need to know whether you have to change either the seating depth or the load. How many times have you followed up a screamer with a monster on the next group? Knowing where you are with a tune and how much and which direction to change is only learned by working within your tuning system. Most top-notch shooters minimize the amount of variables (different chamberings, different types of barrels, multiple types of bullets, multiple powders, etc.) and work the variable sin their tuning system to beat the range conditions.
Point being that the most important thing you can do is get a regimented tuning process for your guns and work it. Then have your system calibrated so that you can change what needs to be changed when necessary. To me it is more important to know how to tune a gun and when to change something than to continually change barrel makers, gunsmiths, bullets, types of powders, etc. The best example that I can think of is how you hear a lot of shooters say that one bullet is better than another or one lot or type of powder is better than another. (And, of course, if you or I had these mythical components we would be winning all the matches). But you often see that the same shooters end up at the top over and over again. This is because these guys know how to tune a gun with the components they have and know when to change and how much change is needed.
TUNING METHOD
(For illustration I will refer to the 6PPC and N133 powder)
IMPORTANT: NEVER MAKE MORE THAN ONE CHANGE AT A TIME!!!!
Start by prepping your cases (of course) and then loading them in groups of three. Have a couple of extra rounds loaded for fouling shots.
Take a sized, unprimed case and seat a bullet just into the case. Insert it into the chamber and close the bolt on it forcing the lands to push the bullet into the case. Measure the ogive to case head, subtract .003 and consider this the 'jam' setting. The reason for subtracting the .003 is to keep from getting a bullet stuck in the barrel and dumping powder in your action during a match. Adjust your seating die to this measurement.
Group your cases in sets of three. Load the first three with a low powered load for the cartridge being loaded. For instance, in the 6PPC, using N133 powder, 51 clicks on the Harrell powder measure is considered a light load.
Load the next three using 52 clicks of N133, three at 53 clicks, three at 54 clicks. Go to the bench and, using wind flags shoot the first three trying to pick the best condition available. Then shoot the remaining 'sets' of three cartridges.
After doing this you should be able to pick one or, maybe, two loads that are markedly better than the others. You may have to repeat this procedure but a 'best' load should be apparent. Then load 5 rounds of the two best loads and fire them for group.
After you determine which load is best so far you can begin to adjust for seating depth. The first adjustment should be .003. Repeat the five shot drill a couple of groups to see if there is any improvement. If there is, seat the bullet .002 deeper and try again. If there was no improvement stay with the 'jam' length.
By this time you should be able to pick a decent load. From this point on it will be a matter of trying different neck tensions/seating depths for optimum accuracy.
ONE OF THE TOUGHEST LESSONS TO LEARN AND ACCEPT IS THAT A NEW BARREL MAY NOT BE CAPABLE OF WINNING ACCURACY. IT IS FALSE ECONOMY TO THINK YOU CAN MAKE A MEDIOCRE BARREL INTO A WINNER. IT CANNOT BE DONE AND IT IS ONLY A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH A BARREL THAT WON'T SHOOT.
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL WITHIN 100 SHOTS IF A BARREL WILL SHOOT. IF IT WON'T YOU'RE AHEAD OF THE GAME TO TAKE IT OFF AND TRY ANOTHER.
I know this is a tough pill to swallow but it is part of the cost of winning. It will cost you X amount of dollars to participate in benchrest competition but it will cost you 5X to compete. Only you can decide how far you want to go.
You should keep in mind just what you're trying to achieve. It is not realistic to expect a .270 to shoot like a 6PPC. The tuning method will work to show you the capabilities of any caliber but always remember capabilities vary. That's why I'm not an Olympic runner. That and about 80 extra pounds and 40 years.